MOHAWK 102, SENECA 81
OSHAWA, Ont. - Anyone wanting to get to Hamilton, Ont., for the CCAA men's basketball championship in two weeks may have a large mountain to climb.
The Mohawk Mountaineers made a statement, connecting early and often as they dismantled the Seneca Sting 102-81 in the third quarter-final of the belairdirect OCAA Men's Basketball Championship at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre.
It's the 11th time Mohawk has scored 100 points or more this season, and the Mountaineers are the only team in Canada to average 100 points per game.
Matt Fennell (London, Ont.) made his presence known, finishing with a very efficient 35 points on 10-of-12 shooting. He also pulled down 11 boards and added three assists before getting to rest for the entire fourth quarter.
Matt Savel (Hamilton, Ont.) contributed 21 points and four assists, while OCAA west second-team all-star Andrew Cicuttini (Dundas, Ont.) added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Mountaineers, who await the winner between the host Durham Lords and the St. Lawrence Vikings in Saturday's second semifinal.
Joshua Yorke-Frazier (Scarborough, Ont.) paced the Sting offensively with 22 points, five assists and four rebounds, while OCAA east first-team all-star Felix Adjei (Toronto, Ont.) and Jamal Boyce (Toronto, Ont.) each added 15.
Seneca moves into the consolation bracket, where they will face the loser between the Lords and Vikings tomorrow at 3 p.m.
The CCAA's top offence went to work immediately, rattling off 13 straight points in 2:50 to take a 17-3 lead less than five minutes into the opening quarter. The Sting tried to combat Mohawk's high-octane offence with an attack heavy on perimeter shooting, but they couldn't get many shots to fall as Seneca shot just 30 per cent overall in the frame, making only three of 13 three-point shots.
The Sting eventually found their touch late in the frame to keep the game from getting too far out of hand, though the Mountaineers still staked themselves to a 31-18 lead through 10 minutes.
The second quarter was more of the same, as Mohawk further asserted its dominance over the Sting with a 17-3 run spanning nearly six minutes. Once again, the Sting turned up their game late in the frame, but still found themselves staring at a 54-31 halftime deficit.
A large reason for that was Fennell, who was named the OCAA player of the year and a CCAA all-Canadian earlier on Friday. He was perfect in the first half, hitting all of his field goals and free throws to finish the opening 20 minutes with 23 points, nine rebounds and two assists.
The Mountaineers went right back to work in the second half, with Fennell fuelling a 10-2 run spanning three minutes early in the third quarter. However, the Sting kept pace with Mohawk for the rest of the quarter, drawing back to within 16 before the Mountaineers stretched back to 78-57 with 10 minutes to play.
The Mountaineers were content to just trade shots with the Sting for the balance of the fourth quarter, though rookie Lamar Barr (Hamilton, Ont.) put the exclamation point on the victory defensively with a late block on Sting guard Jordan Burton (Toronto, Ont.) as he attempted a dunk.
Source: Durham College